Malaria Program Officer/Senior Program Officer

Terms of Reference – Malaria Program Officer/Senior Program Officer
Clinton Health Access Initiative, Vietnam

Position: Malaria Program Officer/Senior Program Officer
Work place: Hanoi
Length of position: One year, extendable based on performance and funding
Reports to: Malaria Program Manager

Background

The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a trusted advisor to governments worldwide, helping them transform the way they provide health services. In Vietnam, CHAI works with a number of departments in the Ministry of Health to help reach national HIV, TB, and malaria targets. Established in Vietnam in 2006, CHAI has emphasized a sustainable and integrative approach to health systems strengthening premised on a close partnership with government to build national capacity.

CHAI’s team in Vietnam consists of a dynamic core of 12 staff in addition to resources available at the regional and global levels. Through the National Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology, CHAI has been helping the Ministry of Health since 2015 to accelerate towards malaria elimination in Vietnam. We are now seeking Vietnamese nationals to help our government partners strengthen malaria surveillance.

Description

The Program Officer/Senior Program Officer will help accelerate Vietnam’s drive towards malaria elimination by helping national, regional, and provincial counterparts to strengthen the malaria elimination response. This includes optimizing current strategies and developing and executing new strategies and interventions to eliminate malaria. In particular, this work will include strengthening active and passive surveillance systems, especially to apply new real-time case-based reporting and investigation tools, to collect, analyze and interpret data, and to help make intervention adjustments as needed. The work will be especially focused on supporting development of a new national Malaria Management Information system (MMS) and include developing dashboards to facilitate such data analysis and interpretation.

The Program Officer/Senior Program Officer must be a highly motivated, entrepreneurial individual with outstanding problem-solving, managerial, analytical, and communication skills. The Officer must be able to function independently and flexibly and have a strong commitment to excellence.

This position reports to the CHAI Malaria Program Manager in Vietnam.

Main Responsibilities:

Support CHAI, the National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology, and Entomology (NIMPE), the two regional Institute of Malariology, Parasitology, and Entomology (IMPE), provinces, and other MOH agencies.

Activities may include:

• Identifying key impediments to the successful execution of the malaria elimination strategy and other national guidelines and work with government partners to develop solutions to rapidly address these bottlenecks

• Surveillance system
  
  • Applying new active reporting systems and procedures in alignment with national guidelines
  • Developing operational plans and materials and to conduct trainings to build provincial, district, and commune capacity execute their malaria surveillance program
  • Facilitating MMS software development (web and mobile app) in alignment with specifications document

• Explore the utilization of new tools and interventions to eliminate malaria and develop operational plans and other materials to support the implementation of these tools

• Collaborate with NIMPE and partner organizations to design and implement operational research projects to identify improved approaches that will help optimize malaria elimination interventions

• Support NIMPE’s implementation of national case management guidelines at all registered public and private health facilities to support accurate and prompt diagnoses and treatment of all suspected malaria cases

• Support all other CHAI staff working on malaria elimination efforts in Vietnam.

Qualifications

• Vietnamese citizen (due to travel permissions) who is comfortable traveling to remote locations in Vietnam
• Bachelor’s degree plus 5 years of work experience
• Background in epidemiology, biostatistics, or computer programming
• Very comfortable with information technology
• Exceptional problem solving skills and quantitative and qualitative analytical capabilities
• Strong written and oral English and Vietnamese communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships in a challenging multicultural environment
• Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Advantages

• Advanced degree in epidemiology, biostatistics, computer programming, or related field
• Experience working with geographic information systems
• Experience developing database systems and using statistical software for data analysis
• Experience working with government institutions
• Experience in working with malaria and/or other infectious diseases.

A one-page cover letter should specify the position sought and highlight why the candidate believes they are the right person for the position. A CV detailing professional experience, relevant qualifications and three reference contacts should be provided. Interested candidates should send materials in English to [email protected]. Indicate position sought in the subject line. Applications will be reviewed as they arrive, but must be received by 10 October 2017. Only shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview.